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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
As Dracula is one of my favorite stories of all time, I thought it would be interesting to read other Stoker books. The Jewel of Seven Stars is definitely a very interesting idea. That being said, I felt the story was much too drawn out and ended far too abruptly and indefinitely, leaving the reader without a satisfactory ending. Had this been a short story, I feel the excitement might've ebbed and flowed more effectively and left a lasting impression of "spookiness" and mystery on its readers.
Did I enjoy the read? Sure. Would I recommend it? Probably not.
Did I enjoy the read? Sure. Would I recommend it? Probably not.
I did like this book, tense at times, mysterious, creepy- but the ending was rewritten and there's a note about it and i have to say i was a bit confused by the finish. Now i want to go check out tales of mummies :)
I try to re-read Dracula almost every year for Halloween. I absolutely LOVE that book. I love the faint horror, the dialogue, the characters, the power of evil, and just, well, all of it.
I could not, however, like this book. I was enjoying it for the first few chapters. It was your standard Victorian horror, people sitting around talking and yet there was some evil lurking in the peripherals, and it intrigued me. But then nothing happened. At all. The evil never presented itself, it just kept lurking, and it seemed so harmless. It went from interesting to beyond-boring, and never picked up again. The book itself was comatose.
Perhaps I’m being harsh, but it was just so disappointing. It just limped along. I would highly recommend skipping over this one.
Its too bad, the audiobook provided by Librivox was excellent.
I could not, however, like this book. I was enjoying it for the first few chapters. It was your standard Victorian horror, people sitting around talking and yet there was some evil lurking in the peripherals, and it intrigued me. But then nothing happened. At all. The evil never presented itself, it just kept lurking, and it seemed so harmless. It went from interesting to beyond-boring, and never picked up again. The book itself was comatose.
Perhaps I’m being harsh, but it was just so disappointing. It just limped along. I would highly recommend skipping over this one.
Its too bad, the audiobook provided by Librivox was excellent.
Stoker does some fascinating things in this title, from the brooding, atmospheric horror of the first half, to the trick he pulls in the second part of the book of comparing the increasingly independent "New Woman" of the 1890s and 1900s with the more egalitarian (and thus, to a male edwardian reader, alien) ancient society represented by Queen Tera. That being said, the prose is not quite as strong as the conceptual work here, and one gets to see just how much good the faux-diarist narration of [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387151694l/17245._SY75_.jpg|3165724] did for the narrative of that book. The ending(s) are also somewhat less satisfactory- there are two, a so-called "Happy" ending imposed on the text by the editor, and possibly not even written by Stoker, and the original, relentlessly beak ending, which was judged to be too dark for the delicate sensibilities of the time. Neither is quite up to par, the happy ending being far too contrived, and the original ending a bit darker than the rest of the book would seem to support. I do recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Dracula, but don't necessarily expect something of the same quality.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Jewel of the Seven Stars: Gives me the science attitude of Frankenstien with the cops from Sherlock throw in the vibes/plot if The Mummy from 1999 wrapped up in Bram Stoker's writing of Dracula!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think my hopes were too high. The premise was very interesting, but I struggled to engage throughout the entire book. The dialogue was sleep inducing.
0.75 star for the book, and an extra star for Silvio
0.75 star for the book, and an extra star for Silvio
This is another classic Victorian Gothic tale from one of my favourite writers of the time and embraces everything I love about Stoker's style, characters and flare for story-telling. And as an added bonus it throws in a load of Egyptian mythology, the fascination of which I gladly share with the Victorians. The story follows Margaret Trelawney and Malcolm Ross as they try to unravel the mystery of what has happened to her father while they try to protect him from further harm by a mysterious presence that is only ever hinted at. As they do, they realise there is much more to the story than they first realised and that they are battling an ancient power beyond their comprehension. Told with Stoker's trademark character driven feelings this story gets beneath your skin and inside your head until you don't know what's real and what's not.
This volume has both the original ending as published in 1903 and the revised ending from 1912 (which may or may not have been written by Stoker himself, although I doubt it). Personally I prefer the original ending as it is more inkeeping with the story and with the genre. The 1912 version seems somewhat forced and false and doesn't sit as well with the overall tale. But fear not, you don't have to read the alternative (I'd possibly even advise against it).
This volume has both the original ending as published in 1903 and the revised ending from 1912 (which may or may not have been written by Stoker himself, although I doubt it). Personally I prefer the original ending as it is more inkeeping with the story and with the genre. The 1912 version seems somewhat forced and false and doesn't sit as well with the overall tale. But fear not, you don't have to read the alternative (I'd possibly even advise against it).
Turns out there's 2 ending to this book, they're both available here on bramstoker.org but I recommend and prefer the earlier 1903 version. I guess the 1912 revision was made because the earlier one was too much of a downer but the revised ending is far too simplistic for my taste.
The first half really dragged; the inciting incident is that Abel Trelawney is found unconscious in his bedroom and then his daughter (Margaret), Malcolm (the narrator) and some others are called on to stand vigil over him until he recovers. Hearing about people standing watch through the night gets rather boring and the mystery isn't investigated enough to make that part very interesting.
Things pick up after and their further plans for the Great Experiment where they will (even bigger spoiler)
Which leads to a really interesting chapter where the narrator reflects on the implications of successfully resurrecting Tera, mainly on the religious implications if rituals of Egyptian deities are shown to work, what would that mean for worship of God? There's more in there about how their possible scientific knowledge would affect the world to but I found the religious musings most interesting (and they were wrote that way too, the scientific musings felt a bit tacked on). But that was a really interesting chapter that really shows that Malcolm's in this for his love of Margaret and has great misgivings going forward.
Finally, the ending, in the 1912 version. However, in the 1903 version . Chilling.
The 1903 ending leaves it. That set my brain to whirring.
Overall, intriguing ending aside, the book drags. I can't say I'd go out of my way to get it but since it's easily available online at bramstoker.org or Project Gutenberg it's worth a try.
The first half really dragged; the inciting incident is that Abel Trelawney is found unconscious in his bedroom and then his daughter (Margaret), Malcolm (the narrator) and some others are called on to stand vigil over him until he recovers. Hearing about people standing watch through the night gets rather boring and the mystery isn't investigated enough to make that part very interesting.
Things pick up after
Spoiler
Trelawney wakes up and we're caught up on his and Corbeck's previous ventures in EgyptSpoiler
resurrect the long dead Egyptian Queen Tera because they think ancient Egyptians were far more scientifically advanced than given credit for and possibly more advanced than even turn of the century Europe.Which leads to a really interesting chapter where the narrator reflects on the implications of successfully resurrecting Tera, mainly on the religious implications if rituals of Egyptian deities are shown to work, what would that mean for worship of God? There's more in there about how their possible scientific knowledge would affect the world to but I found the religious musings most interesting (and they were wrote that way too, the scientific musings felt a bit tacked on). But that was a really interesting chapter that really shows that Malcolm's in this for his love of Margaret and has great misgivings going forward.
Finally, the ending, in the 1912 version
Spoiler
the experiment fails, everyone lives, Margaret and Malcolm get married and live happily ever after in an Egyptian sorceress free world . . . Yay . . . good for them but very basic, especially considering they didn't really need to struggle for that endSpoiler
everyone but Malcolm dies in the experiment and Tera's body disappears. Malcolm even carried her out of the smoke filled experiment chamber thinking he was saving Margaret. And it just ends with him finding his compatriots' bodiesThe 1903 ending leaves it
Spoiler
open ended what happens next and what Tera's motivations might even be. Maybe she'll just meld into society, maybe she'll want to reestablish an empire. Who knows? But the fact that she's just gone after the experiment and the book just endsOverall, intriguing ending aside, the book drags. I can't say I'd go out of my way to get it but since it's easily available online at bramstoker.org or Project Gutenberg it's worth a try.